Satus Compleo
by Shyma Tavrott Lupin
Summary: An A-Z Alex Rider drabble series in which events range from the day Ian takes Alex in to the day he leaves Alex on his own. Stories in the lives of Alex, Ian and Jack. Non-slash
1. Prologue: Abandon

**Hey guys! Well, I've just seen so many great ones of these, these A-Z fics that I really wanted to try out my own hand at it and see how it turns out. So here it is, starting from A =] Enjoy!**

**Prologue: Abandon**

22 year old Ian James Rider paced across his bedroom for about the millionth time that minute. A foot from where he paced was a small baby carrier set on the floor. In it, Ian's vibrant three month old nephew was gurgling and babbling in a nonsense language of his own, flailing his arms towards his uncle and grinning wildly. He had a mop of messy blond hair and his midnight blue eyes shone with his excitement. But Ian wasn't paying one bit of attention to him. He was too busy walking a hole through the floor. He felt distraught. He felt unsettled, hurt, angry, frustrated, guilty, weak-he felt so many things in the pit of his stomach he wasn't even sure how he really felt anymore. He'd already cried what few tears had slipped his cold exterior and now had no release for all these emotions boiling over inside of him. But on top of it all, the one thing that had to make it to the top of the list was disbelief. He couldn't believe what had happened to him in the past hours. How fast the already fragile thing that was his life had fallen apart.

They were gone.

John and Helen were gone. Dead. Never to come back.

They'd left him. Left him all alone in the cruel world like everyone else had. They'd just abandoned him and left him with their three month old son. Not to get him wrong, he loved Alex with his life. The little guy was just as good as his own son, but Alex was three god damned months old. He was so young and he needed such specific care (Ian would sometimes sit around and watch Helen care for the little boy.) And Ian was a 22 year old young man, just barely out of college, an MI6 agent of six years that took the highest ranked missions involving being away for long periods of time. Oh and lets not forget the two most important people in the world to him had just been blown to smithereens by a bomb in their plane and now Ian was left with the house, the cars, the bank accounts and the kid. He knew he had to pull himself together for both himself and the kid, but god, he had just lost so much in so little time that he didn't even know where to start...

Ian ran a hand through his short dirty blond hair in a frustrated manner. As he turned around, his nephew's giggling caught his attention. He paused to stare at the boy for a moment...so innocent and full of joy. Not a clue in the world that his parents were dead or that life was going to be hell once he was old enough to understand it. Ian wished he could be that ignorant.

The boy outstretched his arms towards Ian, becoming slightly frustrated by his uncle's lack of response. Ian smiled as Alex fought against the seatbelts of the carrier. He walked over and crouched in front of the boy.

"You're really cute, you know that?" he said softly tapping the tip of his nephew's nose. Alex burst into a fit of giggles. "You look just like him. It almost hurts..." Ian's voice dropped even lower.

And as if he had sensed his uncle's hurt, Alex suddenly calmed down and sighed sullenly...well at least as sullenly as a three month old could sigh. Ian chuckled at the younger. "Alright, lets get you some food. How's that sound?" he said beginning to undo the seatbelts "you haven't had anything to eat since they dropped you off, have you?"

Alex tilted his head to a side.

"They only gave me about a week's supply of your food...and then I guess we'll have to go grocery shopping" Ian said "But that's not the point. I have to feed you...because you're my responsibility now. And I've got to watch over you...because you're my brother's kid...you know? His legacy, his blood-well I'm his blood too but that's the point either. I'll take care of you and keep you happy...and you just keep smiling, okay?"

Alex shrieked something incomprehensible.

Ian chuckled "That smile of yours can work miracles. I feel like I'm looking at your dad smiling all over again. It's a great feeling in here" he pointed at his chest.

Alex popped a finger into his mouth in the most innocent way imaginable. Ian laughed, picked his nephew out of the carrier and stood up, heading off to the kitchen.

"You better remember all that kiddo, you're never going to hear any of this ever again. I'm not very good with my emotions. I can never look someone in the eye and spill my heart out to them knowing they'll react to it. Because that leaves space for them to react negatively...become disgusted and leave. Abandon me..." Ian trailed off; why on earth was he telling all this to his three month old nephew? His train of thought was cut off as Alex gently laid his head on his uncle's chest. Ian's smiled at the younger. Oh yeah, this was definitely going to be some fatherhood experience.

Ian sighed. His brother's son.

**Well, how was it? Be sure to let me know!**

**On a different note, for my Quondam Iterum or Savin' Me readers, don't kill me, I know I'm in no place to start a new story but I've been working really hard to get new chapters for those up, so hopefull they'll be done soon =] **

**Till then, feedback is loved, and if any of you have any requests or ideas for any letter whatsoever pleas, please feel free to let me know through review or pm or whatever. Just let me know. I love your ideas as much as I love my own =]**

**Review! =]**


	2. Blame

**Hey guys, sorry it took a bit. So for B I had originally intended to do something else, but while I sat down to write this, Blame by Tranzlucent came up on my media player, and for those of you who don't know, Blame is the theme song for Stormbreaker the movie and my mind went "WOAH! Blame starts with B!" So now here we are and the second chapter is named Blame =D So Enjoy!**

**Blame**

Ian Rider felt...actually he wasn't very sure how he felt. Really, all he knew at the moment was that he was standing. Standing straight as someone of his rank in MI6 should, tall, proud, dressed expensively in the finest black suit, chest out, expression absolutely blank. And tears, burning inside his eyes. Tears he could never release.

They were gone.

Ian wasn't sure how many times he'd repeated that thought in his head. And no matter how many times he'd tried to get rid of it, it always came back to haunt him. Came back to remind him that his brother and his sister-in-law, the only two people in the world he truly believed loved him, were dead. Especially now, as he stood at the funeral of those two people, did the thought plague him the most.

Ian blinked. That occasional blink that lasted for three or four seconds in which he pushed back whatever emotion was rooting inside of him. He took a deep breath. And to everyone else standing around him, it would have seemed like just another breath but it was more than just that. It was Ian Rider's attempt to keep his image up, keep his emotions in check and his pokerface on. Not too many people had shown up for John. Only about four or five people, all MI6 people. For Helen though, her entire family seemed to be present at the funeral. Less now that the caskets had been lowered into the ground. It'd actually been a good few minutes since the funeral servicemen finished shoveling the dirt onto the caskets. Ian hadn't moved a muscle since. He couldn't. He'd break down the second he tried. So he remained perfectly still as his in-laws(half of whom he wasn't even familiar with...) and some colleagues began to head out of the cemetery.

He paid no mind to anyone and no one paid any mind to him...all except one man that strayed from the crowd of people and stopped his walk in front of Ian. It took the young man a moment to register the older's presence in front of him. Once he did, he looked up and recognized the gray haired, green eyed, stocky form of Stephen Beckett, Helen's father.

"Can I help you...sir?" Ian choked out. He just barely recognized this man, they'd only met twice before and didn't have much of a good impression on him either. As far as Ian knew the man, he, despite giving his consent to John and Helen's marriage, didn't support the relationship one bit. Complained about something to do with John dying on his precious daughter and leaving her without a home or something like that. Ian was too busy seething to actually listen to the lecture all the way through. To this day Ian didn't understand why John so greatly insisted on informing him about MI6. Something about having him trust the relationship or something. Ian decided not to think too much about it. He never did and never would understand half the things John did.

"Yes actually, you can" Stephen's voice snapped Ian out of his thoughts. "You can answer a few questions for me Mr. Rider."

"Such as..." Ian said with an edge to his voice; he didn't like the way he was being spoken to.

"Where is my grandson at the moment?"

"He's with a baby-sitter" Ian shrugged.

"You left my three month old grandson with a baby-sitter days after his parents' murder?" Stephen growled.

"Alright, if you must know, I have about two dozen specialized MI6 agents surrounding the house right now in case anyone decides to lay a finger on _my_ nephew" Ian spoke in a stronger tone. "Happy now?"

"Being cheeky, are we? I can already tell you'll be a bad influence on him..." Stephen narrowed his eyes. "He should be raised with us."

"Well, if you're so fitting then why weren't you named on his parents' will?" Ian muttered rolling his eyes.

"Listen, young man" Stephen brought a finger up to Ian's chest. "I'm not here to listen to you run your mouth. I am concerned about my grandson and his upbringing. Especially the fact that the household responsible for the death of his mother will be raising him."

Well that certainly shut Ian up. He'd learned better than to take people's words to heart, but that one definitely hit home. Was that really how things were? Was that really how Alex would come to see the Riders...and even more, Ian himself? As the person that got his mother killed? Ian didn't think he could live with that thought. Somehow it'd become more about him now than about Alex. Because forget Alex, Ian would go mad himself if this new thought had to go on and join "They're gone."

Ian remembers muttering an awkward goodbye to Stephen after that and getting home as soon as possible. Calling off his agents and crouching in front of his three month old nephew's carrier and gingerly asking "Do you think we're-I'm a murderer?"

Of course Alex replied with nothing but useless gargling but that wasn't the point. The point was that, that incident in the cemetery had to be one of the main reasons why Ian brought Alex up telling him as little as he could about John and Helen's deaths. Hoping somewhere along the way, if he loosened the story enough, he could misplace the Blame.

**Ok, I'm not even sure I even understand that one myself, so have fun figuring it out. You guys know me, I just write whatever comes out, regardless whether it makes sense or not-well I guess it does make sense in a way, you've just got to figure it out. Right, so before I confuse myself or you any further, I'll have the next one up real soon, till then, **

**Reviews are loved! =D**


	3. Care

**Hey guys, here's the next one. I sort of split it into two parts, the first focuses on an overall picture of this chapter's topic: Care and the second part focuses on a specific aspect of Care. So hope you guys like this one. Enjoy!**

**Care**

Contrary to popular belief, Ian Rider did cared. As a matter of fact he cared very much. He was very aware of what went on in the lives of himself and the ones around him and cared more than he let on. He cared about everything from the color shoes Alex wore to school to the gun that was very carefully placed behind the shoe rack in case of an emergency.

He cared about his parents. What with the way he worked his ass off trying to impress his father and scale up to John's image as the perfect son, he couldn't help but care. And the fact that the second John told him their parents had been in a car accident that killed them, Ian felt his stomach, heart and everything else drop was enough proof that no matter how many I hate you's had come out of his mouth, he'd still cared.

He cared very deeply for his older brother and his sister-in-law. Enough about how absolutely devastated he was at their deaths has been said.

And hell, he cared about Alex. He cared about that boy more than he cared about himself. He cared enough that one day, when their house was broken into and Alex(who was seven at the time) was almost kidnapped, Ian immediately went out in search for a housekeeper. A reliable one, unlike the last couple that had ended rather badly for both himself and Alex. And instead of finding a normal housekeeper that worked for a pay and cared about Alex only as much as she needed to, Ian found Jackie Starbright. Jack for short. An eccentric, fiery, red-headed American law student that needed a home as desperately as Ian needed a housekeeper. And it took about ten seconds for Ian to decide that he liked her. She was definitely fit for the job, what with he way she handled the thorough interrogation he ran her through, she was definitely ready. And it didn't take long for either of the Riders to get used to and even come to think of her as family. She was there for Alex when Ian couldn't be and treated him with the same care that Ian would.

And Ian loved that. God, did Ian love that. He loved that and more. In just a matter of weeks Ian found in Jack all the things he'd wanted in a person...in a woman. She was rebellious, wild, cunning and yet at the same time she was just as kind, loving and affectionate. The polar opposite of his own personality...and he loved it. He'd loved it from about the moment he saw it. And in his eyes, she was such a bright and beautiful future for him...And then he remembered MI6.

Ian had to hide a lot of things because of MI6 but hell, care was one thing he most definitely could not hide all the way. No matter how hard he tried, every once in a while, when Alex came home, bruised up from a football game or when Jack burned or cut herself cooking, he just couldn't help but walk over and ask if everything was alright. Little things. It was those little ways that he showed his care, ways that would be invisible to most people, but nevertheless they were still there.

**Care**

**Part II**

Ian had an extremely tight leash on his emotions, but as time went by and grew older and more mature, he found himself loosening that leash, sometimes a little too much for even his own liking. Especially when it came to Jack.

At first it started off incredibly small, holding the door a second longer when he knew she was behind him and then allowing it to swing shut into the face of the poor soul behind her, or holding a hand out for her when getting out of the car or getting up from a table. Common courtesy. And then it became offering to go grocery shopping alone with her, or offering to drive her around to wherever she needed to go. Next was joining her on the couch while she was watching a football match or anything else on t.v and offering to get some popcorn or a drink. Or staying up late with her while she was doing homework and drinking way too much coffee for her own good. And by the end it got to the point where the two of them would make indirect jokes about why they weren't already together. And as jokingly as Jack may have said them, Ian knew she was somewhat serious as well. Oh how much he wished he could tell her why. Why he could care only so much.

When he looked back, Ian got the feeling sometimes he cared too much. And about a woman too. His brother was (he wished he could say living, breathing but that was most definitely not the case) proof of what happened when an agent such as himself did that. But god, Ian could not stop himself. Who could? She was Jack for crying out loud.

And in the end Ian knew, no matter how hard he'd tried, he'd fallen for the same thing his brother had because the last thought that ran through his head before he was shot by Yassen Gregorovitch, next to the thought of Alex was _"Damn...I never told Jack how much I love her."_

**Well, that was Care. Hope it came out alright =] I just love the Ian/Jack dynamic so much I couldn't help but make it a separate section. Next in the series is Danger for D.**

**Review! =D**


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